This book, the third in the series, follows the themes considered in the first two volumes and brings together perspectives on copyright from law, politics, economics, cultural studies and social theory in an effort to forge a truly coherent and meaningful agenda for the future of copyright. It comprises thoughtful, critical and often challenging contributions from an international, multidisciplinary network of scholars.

The protection of privacy and personality is one of the most fascinating issues confronting any legal system. This book provides a detailed comparative analysis of the laws relating to commercial exploitation of personality in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It examines the difficulties in reconciling privacy and personality with intellectual property rights in an individual's identity and in balancing such rights with the competing interests of freedom of expression and freedom of competition. This analysis will be useful for lawyers in legal systems which have yet to develop a sophisticated level of protection for interests in personality. Equally, lawyers in systems which provide a higher level of protection will benefit from the comparative insights into determining the nature and scope of intellectual property rights in personality, particularly questions relating to assignment, licensing, and post-mortem protection.

Published in 1992, like the first, this second edition is not intended as introductory textbook command-driven, Boolean searching. It is targeted at online searchers who already have some knowledge of command languages and may be proficient searchers on databases in one or two subject areas, but when required to venture into new and less familiar territory still need guidance. It is also offered to end users who possess the subject expertise but lack of information retrieval know-how. The Manual is offered as a guide to database selection and a navigational aid through the twists and turns of the retrieval maze; at least some of the dead ends and backtracking may thereby be avoided. This volume, written by experts in their various fields, deals with the subject coverage and record structures of specific databases, offers comparisons between databases (context, indexing procedures, updating policies, etc.), discusses the choice between online and CD-ROM sources (and between hosts if online is selected), and illustrates strategies with numerous search extracts.

Biotechnology is at the heart of heated debates about ethics, safety, economic development, and about the control over the biological materials and technologies used. The latter, grossly called biodiversity issues relating to the application of intellectual property, has been the subject of a wealth of literature. Yet, the situation of animal genetic resources specifically has only marginally been addressed so far. Many books and articles address ‘biotechnology and agriculture’, but have only plants and seeds in mind. Case-law and specific regulation is equally scarce. Exacerbated by the so-called ‘erosion of animal genetic resources’, climate change, the globalization of the market-place, and a strong concentration of markets, animal genetic resources however demand specific analysis and adjustments in intellectual property law. The decoupling of rights over animal genetic resources as an abstract concept, from those over the concrete animals is a fact today. The application of patents in this context became a full-fledged part of the management of animal genetic resources. This monograph analyzes against this background the impact of the patent system on ownership traditions in agriculture, on animal welfare, and on biodiversity. It looks at how those factors in turn are likely to affect the shape of patent law, and how they should affect it. The author hereby focuses on important specific issues arising, including the following: the underlying elements deciding on the shape of regulation – innovation, economic development, agriculture, human rights, animal welfare, the conservation of resources, and equal trading conditions; the continuing applicability of trademarks, geographical indications, copyright, and trade secrets; patentability rules and exclusions; the extension of patent rights over progeny; the meaning of ‘essentially biotechnological processes’; the legal definitions of ‘morality’ and ‘ordre public’ in the context of animal welfare; and the future of international patent law in the context of global governance theories. With detailed investigation of how three major jurisdictions – the European Union, the United States, and Canada – have regulated the matter, the book highlights unresolved issues in the laws dealing with animal genetic resources. How do the usual principles of patent law affect ownership over animals in agriculture? To what extent is patent law in accordance with neighbouring fields of regulation, with relation to animal welfare? How can intellectual property be used to alter, stimulate, or tackle developments in the realm of the conservation and promotion of biodiversity? Questions like these are asked, checked upon the more technical country studies; and then used to put to test the adequacy of international patent regulation in a final chapter. As a deeply informed overview of the arguments and discussion points, this is the only book of its kind. It links general discussions to the often technical and complicated patent regulations, in the specific context of animal genetic resources. It is sure to bring lawyers in the field closer to the policy debates; and decision makers closer to the precise idiosyncrasies of patent law.